Should we switch to the AK

[Stuntmanmike]

I'm a die hard fan of the AK, in both 5.45 and 7.62...it is a much simpler weapon than the AR and is made of steel and wood/polymer whereas the AR consists of almost twice as many parts, many of them small, and is made of aluminum, steel, brass, and polymer.
While not as accurate as an AR, I find the AK platform to be less prone to malfunctions than an AR. As far as ammunition goes, 5.45 and 7.62 steel cased Ruskie ammo can be had cheaper than brass cased 5.56...lots of AR guys don't like to run the cheaper steel cased ammo through their AR's.
But, to each his own...if I were to go to the moon, and only could take one rifle with me, it would be a Kalashnikov.

Agreed. Living in the US and using my rifle for fun at the range, training, and home security, I prefer to have an AR. It fits the clean environment I live in. But if I were to live in the desert again I would absolutely switch back to an AK platform. The reliability, ease and simplicity of cleaning, reliability, and reliability when filthy, are what make the switch an easy decision.

Everyone is different so for some the ergonomics of the AK might not fit, but I carried one overseas for two years and always liked the way they felt in my hands while working.

[joepistol]

..I have not heard much good about ar15 that shoots 7.62x39..."

well, it seems again, I'm the "contrarian".. after learning that a 7.62 X39 AR upper would work on any AR-15 lower,
with a different mag being the other needed item, decided to try one. (The PSA upper I bought came with BCG & CH) purchased 11-2018.

I found that my PSA 7.62 X39 upper has been both LESS problematic and has been MORE accurate than my PSA AR-15 chambered in .223 cal.
This may be due to luck of the draw (buy enough PSA products & maybe you'll get a good one..lol) but my PSA upper:
PSA PA47 16" Carbine-Length 7.62x39 Classic Upper - With BCG & CH - 5165449462
was paired with a Bushmaster lower that I had..(with a trigger job done by Doug Jones)

Maybe it is a well made upper, as customers rated it 5 starts..(107 reviews) and mine has been flawless, in feeding ,firing, ejecting..no issues @ all.
Tried loading some ZMax bullets from Hornady 123 gr. .310" in my brass w/ A/A 1680 and have shot groups that were touching, consistently.
This is better than any of the other AR-15's I own..with me shooting them.
I consider that upper my most accurate & reliable AR-15 upper I own.
this has been my experience.

I had no interest in owning an AK / SKS rifle..read too much about piecemeal construction of them.
Granted, a Soviet built AK may not have these issues, but try finding one FS..
I prefer the AR platform for ease of finding quality parts, mags that work well, easy to work on..i.e. make mods.,
and greater accuracy, due to better construction quality.




.

[castrotikon]

I like both platforms, but the ergonomics and ease of swapping out parts is why I generally prefer my AR rifle, if running clean is a concern, get a piston upper for an AR. I've heard "meh" about 7.62x39 ARs at best, I like the round and definitely think it's worth owning something that fires it, I just wouldn't get an AR-AK. Get a true AK47, one of the new Galils, or a Bren 2 or something built to fire that round specifically. I picked up a Bren 2 in 7.62 recently and I love it.

As far as ammo goes, I would say that it is much easier to find 7.62x39 right now than it is 5.56. It can still be tricky to find it, but it isn't absurdly priced or impossible to find like most 5.56 seems to be right now. The price of ammo from the factory side hasn't really gone up that much, but there is definitely a scarcity of it and that scarcity is causing resellers to drive up prices to some frankly, ridiculous levels.

On a side note, if you decide you want some AK ammo, I'm sitting on almost 1000 rounds of new Tula for re-sale if you decide you want some!

[BMT85]

In my opinion, having both 5.56 and 7.62x39 is a good idea. Both are very popular calibers, hence why they are usually the first ones to dry up during a panic. Right now 5.56 is hard to get a hold of, but 7.62x39 is still available, online anyway. I personally wouldn't give one up over the other.

AR's are more ergonomic, and, in general, have been shown to hold up quite well to abuse. I have 3-7.62x39 uppers that I pieced together. I have an 18" KAK, 16" ARP, and a 13" ARP (16" cut down). All have midlength gas systems, and both ARP's have oversized bolts. I had some feed issues with the KAK in the beginning, so I beveled the barrel extension, and also tweaked the mag lips. I probably could have just done the mag lips, because the ARP's have ran without issue from day one with tweaked mags. However, I usually run Yugo M67 ammo, some S&B FMJ, and handloads. I have some Golden Tiger but haven't ran any steel cased through any of my rifles, including my AK's. So take it for what its worth.

AK's can be a bit odd to manipulate if you're used to an AR, but if you practice enough with it, than it shouldn't be a problem. AK's are sloppy by nature, which usually means they will be less problematic. You can still run into issues though. Various origins of parts, different machines, and different QC can also lead to problems; cracked receivers, soft trunnions, crap barrels, crap mags, you name it. Do some research because there are some junk AK's out there. I would stay away from WASR's. During the last big gun scare, they had all kinds of issues, this one probably won't be any different. They start cutting corners and pushing worse crap out than usual. Also, IMO, they have been horribly overpriced for the past couple of years. Are there good WASR's out there, absolutely, but there are way too many bad ones to risk it. PSA makes a much better AK in opinion. I have a GF3 and it's much nicer than a WASR. Yeah it has a melonite barrel vs the WASR's chrome lined, but Battlefield Vegas put 17,000 rds of steel cased ammo through a full auto converted PSA before they pulled it because it was shot out.

Me personally, I prefer AR's, and 9 times out of 10, would grab one in any caliber before an AK. But you have options, so why not play with them all, and see what you prefer.

[Preacherboy]

I'm a die hard fan of the AK, in both 5.45 and 7.62...it is a much simpler weapon than the AR and is made of steel and wood/polymer whereas the AR consists of almost twice as many parts, many of them small, and is made of aluminum, steel, brass, and polymer.
While not as accurate as an AR, I find the AK platform to be less prone to malfunctions than an AR. As far as ammunition goes, 5.45 and 7.62 steel cased Ruskie ammo can be had cheaper than brass cased 5.56...lots of AR guys don't like to run the cheaper steel cased ammo through their AR's.
But, to each his own...if I were to go to the moon, and only could take one rifle with me, it would be a Kalashnikov.

On the moon I'd want something with much less recoil like an air rifle.

Seriously though, vz58's are fun so are ak's. There's even an sks that uses ak mags

[Scoop]

It’s insane the price and availability or ammo (i personally believe its fabricated to drive up prices). Anyone else thought about this?

For the past 3-4 months, we've set a record for the number of NICS background checks.

Do you seriously believe that the tremendous demand for a finite amount of product is "fabricated to drive up prices"?

[gl08jk]

7.62x39 ammo is also difficult to acquire at times. Buying an AK this late in the hoarding ammo shortage game is not an easy fix to acquire something else to shoot. Owning both the AR and AK I couldnt find 7.62x39 to shoot up until recently where it started showing up more on the shelves. Sometimes you need to prepare for things like this before they happen, which pushed me to reload more just to keep shooting difficult to acquire caliber/ammo during these times.

[Fuel Fire Desire]

I’m one to have a diverse selection of rifles I consider “go-to” just for situations like we are in with ammo availability. My trio used to be AR, AK, and FAL so that I could rely on at least one of those calibers being available if I were to run out. I’ve since backed out of the AR (for the second time) and settled on an AUG NATO as my primary choice for a go-to (just personal preference over the AR).

Now that 5.56 is getting asininely expensive, I’ve backed off on weekend blasting sessions with the AUG to conserve what I have, and am actually blasting around with my FAL because it’s cheaper to shoot (never thought I’d see the day). I’ve been holding back on my x39 as well, because while it’s still available, I really don’t feel like shooting through my stock since it’s going to be the next unavailable and inflated priced ammo.



As far as going to an AK from an AR......like said above it’s an adventure in odd techniques and manipulation to operate it as smoothly as an AR. I’m not opposed to it’s manual of arms, and can honestly load/ reload/ clear/ and shoot it as effortlessly and efficiently as an AR, but it took quite a lot of drills to get me to that point. It was not designed to be handled like a race gun.



LONG WINDED AK RUNDOWN. TLDR; I have a PSA AK I threw parts at and like a lot.


My personal AK is a PSAK G2, with a folding Zhukov furniture set, Ultimak, ALG trigger, Epsilon brake, and Krebs safety. While PSA isn’t known for excellent quality, I’ve been very satisfied with mine. IIRC the trunion and bolt are forged....which is a shock at its price point. Their new AK-E with its FN sourced parts sounds very enticing. I’m probably 5000 rounds deep into owning it, and shockingly haven’t had a malfunction in it that wasn’t ammo or magazine related (I’ve settled on using Pmags instead of random surplus). Rifling is still crisp, and there’s no abnormal wear goin on inside except a bit of peening on the bolt carrier tail that happened very early on and hasn’t progressed since.

The best thing I bought for it was the Epsilon brake. It’s a brake/ comp/ flash hider/ suppressor mount combo, and it’s very effective at keeping muzzle rise and recoil down....but it’s loud. The Zhukov stock, while ergonomic by giving your off hand more real estate, is mounted by an aluminum chassis clamped to the barrel. It’s gets absurdly hot. Not just “that’s warm on my girly hands” hot, but legitimately hot to the point I get worried the plastic might start getting soft. So I put an AFG on it so I can actually put an ungloved hand on it after a couple sequential mags.

The Krebs safety lets you keep your hand on the grip the whole time instead of having to do the ‘Soviet sweep’ of the traditional safety all the time. It’s easily and efficiently operated by your index finger. In my opinion a bit more efficiently than switching the safety of an AR back on using the index finger since I can keep my hand firmly planted on the grip the entire time. (My personal technique with AR’s is sweep off with the thumb, flick back on with index finger.)

ALG trigger is much more AR like than traditional AK. Much less over travel, less pre travel, crisper break, and significantly lighter. Some say too light. It comes with an extra spring to add weight, which I use. It’s still a more precise feeling and faster shooting trigger than a factory AK or AR GI trigger.

I’m a fan of the Ultimak, but it cooks the heck out of the optic mounted on it. I have a Holosun on it, and it’s still surviving, but I’m waiting for that one string of mag dumps that overheats it and kills it. It’s stove top hot. I’ve heard many higher end optics do fine on them, and typically the cheaper Chinese optics die off.

Overall accuracy is good, about as good as the PSA AR’s I’ve had, and it feeds and functions on whatever Russian trash I shove into it. With all the extra tacticool crap I’ve thrown on to it, I’m only about $700 invested (sans optic). I’ll run it until it dies, or starts shooting groups larger than a steel plate at 100 yards and probably replace it with an AK-E. I’d definitely do it all again.

Do I like my $700 AK better than my $3000 AUG? No......but I sure as hell don’t like the AUG $2300 more. If my AUG ever were to take a dump, the AK is my second choice to grab ‘n go, even though my FAL is tacticooled up over $2500. Would I sell my AR if that’s all I had to buy one JUST for ammo cost? No. Would I buy one if I could in addition to my AR for the sake of ammo variety? Yes....as long as you don’t blow all your money on the rifle without having any left for ammo. $700 buys 1500 rounds of 5.56 these days....even if it is a garbage deal.

[pscipio03]

Ammo shortage is very real, and I think it has to do with 2 things.
A lot of people stock piling again
Record numbers of new gun owners.

As far as "switching"? No, I don't think you should switch to a different caliber, I think you should ADD a different caliber.

Also, for the ARs that shoot 7.62x39, there have been a LOT of issues for reliability and functionality, and if I were going that route, I would get one that takes the AK mags VS standard AR lower receiver.

Need to add one more reason, and it's probably the biggest cause- the COVID shutdowns of mining and smelting operations for both copper and lead. Missouri shut down the largest smelter in the US, and South America shut down copper mining. Those are the major components in brass and projectiles.
Stuff coming in from Com Bloc countries probably haven't been affected as much since human rights tends to take a FAR backseat to driving production. So if anything, import restrictions would be the only thing that stymies your ability to buy 7.62x39 ammo. That said I'm finding it far more available than 5.56 ammo.

[JDG]

7.62x39 is my favorite all time cartridge! I have never had a firearm of any kind malfunction shooting crap steel case ammo. Countless WASR's, Dracos, PAP92, MAK-90, VZ58s, VZ2008s, RRA LAR47, home build AR-47s, and a SKS. Countless thousands of rounds of crap ammo without one failure!! The most accurate of them all would be my current VZ58, followed by every AR that I have shot 762 out of, my RRA was very accurate! I have stuck more 5.56 cases then I can count, in 3 rifles, but I believe it was due to a bad case of Tula. I will take an AK any day!! Or something that chambers 762